About Me

Gregg Walker is a Harlem Resident and 1997 graduate of Yale Law School who worked as an investment banker for 9 years and was the Vice President of Strategy and Mergers & Acquisitions at Viacom for 3 years. Gregg served as the Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at Sony from 2009 to 2016, and he launched his own private investing firm in July 2016 (www.gawalker.co). Gregg was chosen in 2010 by Crain's as one of NYC's 40 Under 40 Rising Stars (http://mycrains.crainsnewyork.com/40under40/profiles/2010/gregg-walker). Gregg is a Deacon at Abyssinian Baptist Church and served as the chairman of the Board of the Harlem YMCA. He has served on the Boards of movie studio MGM and music publishing companies Sony/ATV and EMI Music Publishing. He is also a Board member of Harlem RBI and Derek Jeter's Turn 2 Foundation. He is a former Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a representative of the US at the 2002 Young Leaders Conference of the American Council on Germany. Gregg is also a member of many other foundations and community organizations.

Monday, July 20, 2009

City Council Slush Fund Scandal Grows

One New York City Council member has resigned as a result of the slush fund scandal, but as we vote in the September primaries, we won't know whether more elected officials will be forced to plead guilty. The scandal has at least one redeeming quality; the resignation of City Council member Miguel Martinez makes room for New York City's Immigration Commissioner, Guillermo Linares to regain his former seat representing Upper Manhattan in the City Council.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has claimed that she is a whistle-blower rather than a culprit in this scandal, despite the fact that she has been the speaker since 1996 and has led the City Council through two budget cycles that resulted in funds being allocated to phony groups. Quinn has also acknowledged that she was aware of the "slush fund" that benefited her office and gave her leverage in winning votes for her preferred initiatives. She claims that she had not supported the allocation of the slush fund to organizations that did not exist (a reasonable position, but one that she seems to have been developed only after her first two budgets as Speaker).

Despite the fact that millions of dollars have apparently been allocated to non-existent organizations for the last 20 years, we have almost no insight into how much unethical and illegal activity has occurred or whom we should hold responsible for that activity. Two City Council staff members plead guilty in connection with the slush fund in 2008, and Miguel Martinez plead guilty last week. Martinez had only been in office for one term, and we have no way to analyze whether we should expect additional guilty pleas and resignations.

Guillermo Linares grew up poor in the Dominican Republic and went on to become the first Dominican elected to public office in the United States. He entered the United States at age 15 without any knowledge of English and drove a taxi to pay for college. He went on to receive a bachelors degree and a masters degree from City College and a doctorate from Columbia. He served his Upper Manhattan constituents well and is ready to serve again.